The Brother
by Jellybean82
Summary: Cat's brother hasn't taken is medicine in two weeks and now Cat has to deal with the consequences.


It's been two weeks since Antonio last took his medicine and the effects can be felt all throughout the house. Terrified, Cat sits on her bed with her hands over her ears, humming a sweet song to help drown out the noise of the destruction going on just outside of her door. Suddenly, its silent and she opens her eyes and slowly releases the pressure of her hands against her ears. She sits for a few minutes to make sure the coast was clear and that it was okay to come out. With a great sense of urgency she jumps off the bed and grabs the overnight bag she had packed in the closet. She always makes sure to keep a bag packed for days like today and now that Antonio was refusing to take his meds, she usually made sure she had enough for a few days. She unplugs her cell phone and quickly stuffs it in the bag as she makes her way to the door. She stops just short of opening it and carefully presses her ear to the door, listening for any signs of activity. She opens the door and peeks her head out and when she sees no one around she carefully slips out the door and cautiously walks down the hall.  
"Where are you going?" Cat hears Antonio say, starling her.  
"Oh... I.. I'm g-going to m-my friends house." She says, stumbling her words.  
"What friend?" He asks moving closer to her.  
"J-Jade.." Cat says.  
"Jade." Antonio says coldly. "She's pretty, do you think she would like me?"  
"S-she already has a b-boyfriend.." Cat says, still stumbling through her words.  
"So what, I'm not good enough for one of your friends?' Antonio says, his words becoming louder and angrier.  
"No, they've just been together for a few years, they really love each..."  
"So why are you going to Jade's?" Antonio asks, his mood seemingly calm again.  
"We're having a sleepover.. it's been planned for awhile."  
"You're lying... you're trying to get away from me, aren't you?" Antonio says, moving closer and trapping Cat against the wall.  
"No, no... I'm not."  
"Yes you are... _YOU"RE TRYING TO GET AWAY FROM ME! YOU TRYING TO LEAVE ME HERE ALONE!_" Antonio shouts.  
"No..." Cat begins. Before she can finish her sentence, Antonio grabs Cat by the throat and squeezes making it harder and harder for her to breathe. She frantically grabs at his hand to tries to get him to loosen his grip. It seemed like the more she fought, the tighter his grip would become. Feeling defeated, Cat finally gives up. A single tear runs down her face as she realizes that this is how she is going to die, at the hands of her brother. Even as she felt like she was about to slip away, she couldn't be mad at him. He wasn't a bad person, he just needed help. Cat takes her hand and lays it on her brother's arm, letting him know its okay, and that she forgave him.  
"Get out." Antonio says, releasing Cat from his grip.  
Cat drops to the floor and tries her best to catch her breath. She lays in a ball on the floor crying loudly and uncontrollably.  
"_GET OUT!" _Antonio yells, pushing her along on the floor.  
Cat grabs her bag and runs towards the door. Once again she can hear objects crashing against the walls and floors when something hits her in her back. She falls to the ground in pain but manages to pull herself up and run out the door. Cat runs as fast as she can until she gets to the end of the driveway and collapses. She sits at the end of the driveway and wipes her face. She pulls out her mirror out fixes up her face, wiping off the smudged makeup and putting on some lipstick. She didn't want Jade to know that anything was wrong. She finds a bottle of Visine in her bag and puts a few drops in each eye. She places everything in her bag, straightens herself up and starts walking to Jade's house.

* * *

Cat walks up the steps to the front door of Jade's house and rings the doorbell. She takes a deep breath and tries her best to put on a happy face.  
"What are you doing here?" Jade says as she swings the door open.  
"I'm here to sleepover." Cat says, walking inside.  
"Wait, what sleepover? We didn't have plans for a sleepover. I'm going out with Beck tonight."  
"Please Jade... we haven't had a sleepover in awhile."  
"Come on Cat, can't you call Tori or something."  
"I don't want to stay with Tori. I don't get to spend time with you anymore... you're always with Beck."  
Jade lets out a sigh. "Fine, let me call Beck and cancel. Go ahead up to my room, you know where it is."

Cat joyfully skips up the stairs to Jade's bedroom and changes into her nightclothes. She takes a movie out of her bag and puts it into Jade's DVD player and hits play.  
"Here Cat, you left this the last time you were here." Jade says, handing Cat a stuffed giraffe. "No...Not The Little Mermaid again." She says, looking at the TV screen.  
"Please, you like this movie." Cat says scooting over and making room for Jade on the bed.  
"I don't like this movie." Jade denies.  
"Yes you do, you sing all of the songs."  
"I have nothing better to do... hey Cat, what's wrong with your neck?"  
Cat nervously feels her neck. "What's wrong with it?'  
"It looks like you have a red mark." Jade says, inspecting her.  
"You know what else is red, my hair." Cat says as she forces a giggle. "And red apples, and. firetrucks."  
"Okay, okay." Jade says cutting her off. "Lets just watch the movie."

Jade climbs onto the bed and glances over at Cat suspiciously. Cat looks at Jade and gives a big smile, hoping Jade wouldn't ask anymore questions. She giggles as she hugs her giraffe and listens to Jade start to sing along to one of the songs playing on the movie. She was actually happy now, happy to just to be safe for another night.


End file.
